These Chains of Time
by A x Stupid x Lamb
Summary: The Doctor Promised her. He would visit her every year. It's tha time again and he must deliever. This time she wants to be released from the chains the doctor has placed her in. Lucy Cartwright/ Sister of Mine is determined to be free.
1. Chapter 1

These Chains Of TimeChapter 1- Trapped In The Reflection

That time of year had passed The Doctor again. He vowed. He promised. He must deliver.

He travelled deep into the TARDIS, past the library (and the pool apparently) until he came to it. The mirror. Draped with a deep red cloth, with a quick movement he flicked it off.

This was only the second time since his regeneration that he saw his new face.

"Wow!" He remarked, "I swear I get younger every time!" He murmured, still taken aback by this rather dashing man before him. Well dashing to him at least. Bow tie and all.

His scattered thoughts came to an abrupt halt when that flash of red graced his view. He smiled coyly.

"Oh, come out, come out, little one." Another flash.

"Lucy, do not play with me, come out." His tone became harsher, yet not evil. After all he was meant to be funny right? Funny's good.

"What do you want?" she whispered, appearing, still clutching her red balloon.

"Well, you know, thought we could … catch up. I promised to visit you every year, so here I am."

"Your him? The Doctor?"

"That's me, hello." He gave a little wave of his fingers.

"You've changed…" She began.

"Yeah, crazy story that, a tale for when you're older but what I want to know is, have you changed your ways?"

"If I say yes will you return me back?"

"Depends on how big my heart is feeling. Wait… hearts… plural." He mused about this while grabbing a chair and sitting on it reverse, facing the child.

"You gave me what I wished for, immortality, to exist for all time, and that I shall, forever bound in time in a mirror. Yet I see now, it is a curse, for by and by there will be nothing to live for. The worlds will crumble until you are left with nothing. To live through that must be agony."

"I _have _lived through it. I am to blame for all that remains of two great nations. Both worlds enveloped in fire, destroyed in a great war."

"And what did you feel?"

"Agony."

"So my prediction is correct. All that is left for me now _is_ Agony. A curious thing, to know ones future."

"You get used to it after a while." He chuckled "I have the power to decide that anyway." He added lightly. Lucy remained silent, looking down.

"My brother? What happened to him, please tell me." She murmured after a while. This was the one subject that The Doctor would never indulge her evil brain in. It was also the thing that troubled her the most, to be constantly declined of the information she desperately craved. News that her family were okay was all she asked, for all she knew they were dead.

"Oh ho, thinking you can get it out of me just because I have a new face. I don't think so, missy." She gave a sad smile in return. A delicate shrug of the shoulders made her look years older then she was.

"It was worth a try." She turned and headed off the side of the mirror.

"Hey, hey, wait a minute, I'm not finished with you yet." Slowly she began to peer back into the reflection, eyeing him dubiously.

"What more is there to say, Doctor?"

"A hell of a lot actually." He began to pace in front of the mirror. She merely stood there, watching and waiting. If she did this and remained silent she may have a chance to be free at last. Free to find her family again. After all, it was meant to be what little girls want right?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two- Eternity Remains/ Tomorrow Never Comes

"Say something, please" The girl asked when the silence became unbearable.

"I don't know what to say to be honest." The man admitted.

"Why are you here?" She queried, sitting within the mirror.

"I want to give you a chance, Lucy, but sometimes you make it very hard."

"Like how?" She suddenly burst out, whipping to her feet in seconds, glaring daggers at the Doctor, who raised his eyebrows at her outburst.

"Well, lets see, trying to kill me for a start. For some reason I think that may put you in my bad books." The calmness in which he said his words unnerved her and also made her see blazing red.

"That," She spat, her eyes blazing with venom, "was years ago."

"It doesn't matter to a Time Lord how long ago something was, it is still a moment in history, a point forever fixed in a continuous loop…unless I choose to change it."

"Then go stop me." She half challenge, half begged. Again this weakness of hers kept cropping up.

"Haha. You wish I would do that. Didn't anyone tell you, you don't always get what you want?" The child remained still, stung by his brutal words. She had realised years ago that her actions were wrong, that night when the human doctor came into her life. All she remembered was rage at this man she didn't even know, an uncontrollable urge to end his existence and steal his forgotten power for her own. If she could change the clocks she would; she couldn't stand facing the world solo. Thinking of the injustice placed upon her she spoke.

"I refuse to be stuck behind these mirror bars my entire existence." Her whisper echoed around the room, she could hear the subtle desperation behind the words, and cringed at the weakness it portrayed. "I cannot survive it." Tears began to fall from her pale cheeks, staining as it left a trail, "Please don't make me live eternity alone."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry, please. Why do women always cry?" He muttered to himself, waiting for the truly confused little girl to stop the tears. "You do understand why I did this right?"

"No, I didn't know anyone could be so cruel." She said, wiping her eyes dry stubbornly.

"Careful love, you'll fog up the mirror if you carry on." All of a sudden The Doctor became serious, the way a father might react to a child's misbehaviour. "You invoked the fury of a time lord, little one, you must accept the consequences."

"That I did," she nodded, "so forever punished in this infernal contraption I shall remain, correct?"

"Like I said, I may decide to release you one day, if I believe you deserve it."

"Why not my mother of father… or brother? Do they not deserve equal rights in this?"

"You were the only one who had a shred of humanity left within you, I hope it will not be consumed altogether. I was being kind. Kind and funny, I'm on a roll." He chuckled to himself.

"You are a strange man mister. Someone who is kind yet cruel; how is that even possible?" She shook her head in … frustration… hatred… sorrow, the Doctor couldn't decide. Little did he know it was actually a combination of the three. The doctor gazed at her, taking in her defeated posture, yet her eyes remained that of an eternal child: stubborn as hell. It was that which made him not trust her cute cherub face and red balloon.

"Tell me something, Lucy, do you really hate me… want my power?"

"Of course, this nagging inside me always tries to get me to turn back to what I was: a power hungry murderer, and each day it gets harder to resist. 'One day more' I keep telling myself, 'all the power you want can be yours tomorrow but for today just wait.' Soon tomorrow will come, Mister Smith."

"Tomorrow never comes, Lucy" he remarked sadly, his eyes draining blank from memories past. "Tomorrow just remains… tomorrow. So close yet unreachable" He remained quiet for a little longer until he suddenly shook his head out of it and snapped his hands together.

"Right, it's time to end this once and for all." Suddenly he dived in his jacket, pulling out his screwdriver. Pointing it at the mirror the doctor stared at Lucy, who gulped in anticipation… what was going to happen? Was he going to kill her? She knew the destructive force that little weapon held. Closing her eyes she just thought of how this man had brought about such misery to her and silently cursed him.

"Let's put things right." She heard him mutter. She counted in her head.

One...

Two…

Three...

She then heard the buzzing sound of the screwdriver in her head and she knew it was over.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay so because you wanted more you got it. And the threatening reviews I get keep me going! I hope it's okay. Tell me what you think. A bit more happens than in the last chapter. It's again on the short side. I'm no good at writing huge chapters. How people write these 12,000 word chapters I read i'll never know. Please review. **_

_**Chapter 3- One more time, with feeling. **_

The sounds of a mirror cracking, breaking, smashing. Yet Lucy was still there.

"You can open your eyes, Lucy" So she did and there she stood, exactly where she had before only… no mirror now surrounded her.

"W…what?" She blundered.

"I told you it was time to end this… hopefully we can. You need to prove you can once again live in the normal world. No evil. No plots. No Takeovers. Prove that and this may become more permanent. Let's give this one more try." The Doctor smiled. Looking at the smile the girl couldn't help but smile back; she was free. So overwhelmed with emotion she charged at the man, stepping over shards of mirror, and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she chorused.

"Lucy, I mean it, you need to fight whatever controls you still or you will go back." He threatened even though he returned the hug gently.

"I know; I'm sorry for what I did, honestly." The Doctor smiled at the lie. She was merely too caught up in a whirlwind of emotion that she didn't recognise it. Once the thrill of being free died down she would face the true test.

First however she had to get used to life in the 21st century. She was still in the mind set and dress of a girl in 1913, I mean a world war was on the horizon. He held out his hand to the girl once the hug had ceased.

"Come, little one, time to meet the year 2010." Her eyes glistened at the prospect.

"In the mirror I heard people talk about something called a mobile, it sounds fun. May I have one?" She mused. He chuckled to himself as he walked her to the wardrobe.

"Sure, of all the things, a mobile. Very 21st century." He muttered. He wandered through the racks of the girl's child's section of the vast closet. All clothes were then organised by time period so finding the 21st century area wasn't hard. He plucked out a pair of jeans with a simple black top and handed them to her. She gazed at them with a kind of wild fascination.

"So little to wear." She commented and the doctor agreed; this time was far from petticoats and stockings now. While following the doctor to some drawers. He cleared his throat slightly to get her attention and gestured to the top two drawers.

"Pick one thing from each draw and then there's a room just over there where you can change." She opened the drawers inquisitively and was graced with underwear. She laughed at the shyness of The Doctor on that little subject. She shook her head and moved to the little room she was directed to. She left her balloon on an armchair that was there. After a little time she was in the new clothes and she shuffled out still holding her little balloon.

"These are strange and uncomfortable." She grumbled motioning to the jeans she wore. "When did ladies start wearing trousers anyway?" At this The Doctor didn't contain his laugh.

"I'm sure many people today would say the same about corsets to." He challenged. "And you where about 40/50 years off of wearing trousers." He added, recalling that it was the latter part of the 20th century that saw about women wearing trousers in great numbers. The Second World War helped: wearing a dress while making bombs… not pretty. "Surly you've seen the world evolve? You should have known everything like that."

"I…I didn't really pay attention to the people that came and went." She explained.

"Understandable. You have a lot to catch up on."

"And you'll be there to help" She queried. He held out his arms for her, which she fell into mercifully.

"Of course, as long as you need me, I'm there"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4- Paradise of Forever Young**_

A year passed and still Lucy remained outside her prison. The Doctor was just beyond surprised at anything past a month to be honest, but he still watched her closely. Those moments she was silent he wondered what was ticking inside her brain. The times she left to be alone a nagging part of his mind questioned where she was and what she was doing. Of course generally if an evil plot were going to arrive from her doing, The Doctor thought it would have happened by now, yet still the feeling remained…

…And she caught every stupid shifty glance and questioning gaze. She didn't say anything obviously; what was it to her if he was a tad nosey at times, it was no different than a parent.

Today was a Friday, which meant she got an hour of free time. The doctor would drop her on a safe planet for one hour and return for her when the time was up. During that time she was free to do whatever she wanted… something The Doctor begrudgingly gave her after 6 months of those lovely childish whinges.

The doctor kept her within the compounds of the TARDIS for only two reasons: Her safety and his safety. Who knew what was out on all those planets but also who knew what she was planning.

Today she wished to go to the planet Tulufrey: a mainly land mass planet with suitable human atmosphere and tropical forest based. Most importantly, situated as far from Skaro as The Doctor could get her. Could you imagine what would happen if some stupid godforsaken Dalek teamed up with that little cherry blossom? World War 3 in the making. Why tease fate?

He arrived precisely 60 minutes after he dropped her off. She knew; her new phone just happened to have a stopwatch on it.

"Good afternoon, Doctor." She peacefully muttered, lying slightly backwards, her hands behind her, supporting her weight. Her vision trained on the sun, soaking in the rays. Her red balloon tied around her wrist for the time being and her bag by her side.

"Time to go." He simply said to which the girl sighed; her little piece of paradise was over.

"Why don't you live a little? Come on, come sit with me for a while."

"Just keep the plot scheming to a minimum, alright." He said dubiously, sitting next to her, his legs laid out in front of him.

"The only plot happening around here is the one going on inside your head." She chuckled sassily. She plucked a flower from the ground, giving it to him.

"What's this?" He asked, observing its pink and purple marbled petals.

"An Eternal Lily, whoever eats it will have immortal life. Forever young." She mused.

"Tell me you didn't." The Doctor started.

"Relax, no of course not. Side effects. You didn't think that was it did you? If that was the case it would have been used by everyone centuries ago." She laughed, taking back the flower from The Doctor's grasp. "It will more than likely kill you actually. Your body will react in one of two ways, kill you or curse you. So taking that into a account I don't think I would risk it, I don't feel like dieing right now." He gestured for it back and just simply ate it.

"What are you doing!" She screamed. "Spit it out you Idiot!" He then started to convulse slightly and all of a sudden he stopped and gazed at her, astonished face and all.

"You weren't lying."

"Why would I lie? What happened?" She raved, still staring at him like he'd suddenly taken off his bow tie or something.

"I'm immune to most poisons and that was quite a potent one."

"What part of 'it could kill you' did you not get?" She screeched, picking up her bag and following after him as he left for the TARDIS.

"The 'kill me' part" He replied, opening the door, motioning her inside. "Time to go." He repeated from earlier. She nodded glumly.

Goodbye paradise. She thought as they left with a familiar clanking/buzzing sound that could only be The Doctor's 'perfect' driving.

*Ducks behind sofa* okay guys how was it? Just a little bit of fun in this chappy. Please review and tell me what stuff you want more of? I don't actually know if the Doctor is actually immune to most poisons or not but now he is!


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Change of Heart. **_

10 days since Lucy went to 'paradise', as she called it, she once again brought up the subject The Doctor just pure despised. Her family.

He saw the familiar red before she spoke. He internally groaned; she was meant to be browsing through the books in the library and he thought that would entertain her for at least a few hours. Apparently not. What held a little girl's interest anyway? Ponies and princesses? The doctor suddenly thought, "Wow I didn't really think this through, did I?" Confusion always seemed to be a factor of this new body of his. Maybe it was a result of his certain reluctance to regenerate that triggered it. He didn't want to regenerate because he was getting weary of simply living; sometimes he thought it would be ok to die. He shared Lucy's pain. Immortality was a curse.

"In that position it would be very easy to kill you, you know." She stated matter-of-factly, eyeing him dubiously, a look of perpetual unease on her face. She smirked in her head as she knew the talk of killing him made The Doctor edgy, therefore more inclined to talk, so as to get rid of her.

"And all I'd have to do is point my little screwdriver at you and back to purgatory you go." He retorted, " What do you want? I'm kind of busy." He added bitterly while staring at her from under the TARDIS' control room. She shifted her weight from side to side; a new look of impatience graced her features.

"I think I've been unusually tolerant of you, considering what you did to me. So I think a favour is in order." She jumped straight in. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a knowing smile. Well, Well, Well, the subdued kindness wasn't working for her so she turned to the only other emotion she felt: anger.

"Where is this going?"

"My mother, father and brother, where are they? Tell me they are ok!" She demanded but when she saw the Doctor's face she stopped instantly. "You know what, forget it." She muttered, embarrassed, as she realised she may have stepped too far. Cringing at the submission it would portray, she turned to leave. The Doctor sighed.

"Lucy, wait," he beckoned. Placing his spanner down and lifting himself up he travelled over to her. When he got a few inches from her he lifted her chin gently so they were staring into each other's eyes. The Doctor saw no evil lurking there in them green globes; merely a girl who was close to tears and who was as angry as hell. "Your family are where they belong, that I _will_ say, but surely you understand why I cannot tell you much more than that." He reduced the attitude he laced his voice with before and spoke with a more conversational tone. She squirmed under his gaze.

"Just say that they are alive and well, that's all I ask."

"Did it ever cross your mind that you ask too much?"

"I could never ask too much of the person who keeps me locked away like a rabid dog! You've still got me under your little finger haven't you." She demanded.

"Loose the 'tude or I won't talk." She huffed angrily, becoming every bit the little girl she looked. The years had matured her mind but her emotions were something else entirely.

He waited… nothing

Still waited… still nothing

And still more waiting… her shoulders finally slumped in defeat and a grumbled, "sorry," escaped her lips.

"What brought the anger on?" He probed her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"You…you just don't seem to get the pain I'm going through. They're my family, Doctor, how do you expect me to react when you won't tell me what you've done to them? You didn't respond to kindness so I just let my anger for you fuel the conversation instead and it appears that didn't work either so what's the point?" She pushed away from him forcefully.

"Goodnight, Doctor." She said briskly, departing the room. Thinking of every choice word under the sun The Doctor couldn't be bothered to go after her so just walked in the other direction, fuming about 'stupid, emotional kids.'

After he had calmed down from the little theatrical display Lucy pulled he noticed once again a little red flash. He was going to get annoyed with that one day. The balloon lay on the floor, abandoned. He swooped and picked it up, wondering how it never seemed to deflate but as soon as he asked himself the answer came. She was frozen in time so it was only natural that the balloon is too. He walked slowly through the corridors of his beautiful home and stopped as he came to a certain little girl's room. Sucking up, he opened the door to give the balloon back.

What he didn't expect to see was her tiny form, sleeping soundly and peaceful at last. The light was left on so he could clearly see the stains of trails left down both sides of her cheeks. She had cried herself to sleep…

…And he was the cause.

"Oh, Lucy. It appears all I do is make people cry." He craved company yet it was having company that caused him the most heartache. Everyone he'd ever come to love had gone from his life. The lonely Doctor. With a heavy heart he tied the balloon to her bedpost and pulled a cover over her. He almost leaned in to kiss her goodnight but he just couldn't bring himself to get that attached to her. She looked so innocent asleep and like she wouldn't hurt a fly. Then again everyone does when they sleep.

"Sweet dreams, little one; heaven knows you'll find none when you wake."

~8~

Okay so originally this chapter went completely differently. She wasn't angry at all and then I saw that this chapter idea would get nowhere unless she got the boxing gloves out so to speak. I thought I would post the outtake of it so you can see what this chapter went from. Tell me if I made the right choice or if I deserve to be shot :)

**_Chapter 5- Outtake_**

10 days since Lucy went to 'paradise', as she called it, she once again brought up the subject The Doctor just pure despised. Her family.

He saw the familiar red before she spoke. He internally groaned; she was meant to be browsing through the books in the library and he thought that would entertain her for at least a few hours. Apparently not. What held a little girl's interest anyway? Ponies and princesses? The doctor suddenly thought, "Wow I didn't really think this through did I?" Confusion always seemed to be a factor of this new body of his. Maybe it was a result of his certain reluctance to regenerate that triggered it. He didn't want to regenerate because he was getting weary of simply living; sometimes he thought it would be ok to die. He shared Lucy's pain. Immortality was a curse.

" Doctooorrr" She whined.

"Luccccyyyyy," He retorted, " What do you want? I'm kind of busy." He added curiously while staring at her from under the TARDIS' control room.

" I was just wondering… well you know how I, you know, haven't like tried to kill you or anything?" She babbled. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a knowing smile.

"Where is this going?" He smirked, liking the way she squirmed over the fact that he knew what she was going to say yet made her say it anyway. She gulped, summoning all the courage she could muster.

"Please, my mother, father, brother where are they, are they ok?" She then stopped. "You know what, forget it." She muttered, embarrassed, turning to leave. The Doctor sighed.

"Lucy, wait." He beckoned, placing his spanner down and lifted himself up, travelling over to her. When he got a few inches from her he lifted her chin gently so they were staring into each other's eyes. The Doctor saw no evil lurking there in them green globes; merely a girl who was close to tears. "Your family are where they belong, that I will say, but surely you understand why I cannot tell you much more than that."

"Please!" she tried again "Just say that they are alive and well, that's all I ask."

"Did it ever cross your mind that you ask too much?"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6- The thoughts of the never aging.**_

She came into the control room the next day with a scowl on her face. The doctor didn't look at her to find this out; he simply knew she only had two emotions: sadness or anger. For a brief moment he had a small twinge of sympathy towards her; he caused this to her but this was easily ignored once he recalled what her family had put him and Martha through. He frowned at the confusion and pain this one little girl seemed to be causing him. Martha…

…He fashioned her into weapons, turned her into a solider, she was no longer the carefree person he met all them years ago. The thought formed and then passed. He didn't exactly hand her the guns did he? Then again as he looked at Lucy he saw something familiar in the set of her features and caught glimpses of it in Martha. God, he really did ruin perfectly good people didn't he? Martha used to be a feisty independent woman with a kind heart. Now, she bore numerous weapons and went to battle with barely a second thought. Lucy was a perfect young girl, waiting to be accepted into the world as she grew older and gained more knowledge. Now she felt hate with a passion and would spend most of her days in the library or her room, alone and lonely. He could tell.

"You seemed to have left this in my room last night, please be careful where you leave your possessions, they may be precious to you one day." Not bothering to ask how she knew he'd gone into her room, as it was obvious: the balloon, he plucked the small screwdriver from her delicate fingers and looked at it, expecting it to be a fake or something. Satisfied that it wasn't he nodded curtly and went back to the controls.

"May I watch you for a while; I may have exhausted your books in the library." She queried monotonously, gazing at him thoughtfully. He again nodded swiftly, barely acknowledging her.

"What are you doing precisely?" She added after a while of observing him. He slumped forward a bit, pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. Briskly meandering over to her he placed a finger over her lips.

"Shush." And no later had he said it he was back to the controls, tapping/spinning/pushing/slamming, or whatever he did, away.

Throughout the repairs or whatever was happening to the TARDIS Lucy said nothing, merely watched with a strange curiosity or fascination. She remained silent, emotions and thoughts turning around and flooding her brain yet her eyes never left the Doctor's form.

_When will he realise how much he's hurt me? _She thought desperately, a hint of resentment and bitterness entered her thoughts and she tried to shake it off; it wouldn't help her now. In spite of her efforts those little thoughts of hers were still laced with malice. She sighed with the realization and decided to just give up, she didn't want to fight anymore. If her thoughts wanted to kill the doctor for everything then so be it. He would get his comeuppance soon enough, whether it was at her hands or another's. She didn't care anymore.

She stood silently and drifted off up to her room. The doctor failed to notice until he saw the red balloon escape through the door, Lucy attached.

"Goodbye, Lucy, nice letting me know where you're going," he muttered sarcastically; he wasn't worrying as their was no way she could escape the confines of the TARDIS. She was trapped if you wanted to look at it like that. He refused to see it in that light however as he was keeping her safe, not preventing her from leaving.

He trailed to the library, sinking into an armchair by the fire, letting his grief for the situation swallow him for a while.

"Oh, Lucy, why don't you see I'm trying to bloody protect you." he muttered, frustrated.

"That views a little…misguided don't you think?" He should have known she would be there. Oh course she'd blooming be there. She's always there. A few taps and flicks of his screwdriver revealed she was by the front door. Hey, he was just a little tired and couldn't be bothered to turn around and try to find her.

"You coming or going?" he remarked once she didn't make to move for a few minutes.

"I think I'll stay around; I wouldn't want to miss the pity party huh?" Settling herself on the rug adjoining the fire she stared at him from the briefest of moments before pulling out a book from her person and absorbed herself in it's world for the few minutes it took for The Doctor to speak.

"What are you doing?" lowering her book she replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not in character?" She then cleared her throat and then continued to speak in a high-pitched voice " oh my god the world is so unfair and everything is just out to get me." She returned to her normal tone, "Am I getting this right?"

"Just shut up and read your book," was the only response. She smirked.

Again silence fell over the pair as they both settled into a pattern of reading. Eventually snoring invaded his ears and he tossed his book to the side table, gazing at the sleeping girl. For a moment he considered just leaving her to sleep there then he imagined the cramp and uncomfortable position and thought against it. Sighing, he bent and swooped her up in his arms and carried her through the winding corridors. Sometimes he wondered how he never got lost; there were still rooms that he hadn't discovered yet however some instinct kept him from accidentally falling into the pool, for example.

He slumped her down on the bed and pulled the duvet over her. The almost routine seemed natural, reminding him that he was once a father and did just this on several occasions in a distant lifetime now.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" He grumbled as he shut off the light and closed the door.

Sooooo how was it? Good? bad? bloody awful? lol Tell me and if you have any ideas let me know, i'm almost struggling on how to continue with this but I cant stop!


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7- The confessions of a barbed wire heart.**_

Midday the next day and Lucy still had not made an appearance, which was defiantly freaking The Doctor out. He calmed his heart and reprimanded himself for his foolishness.

Stop it. Stop worrying you overprotective buffoon. She's fine, and isn't plotting to destroy the universe as we know it, it's okay.

Yet that annoying voice in your head you have when you're seriously bored, so you conjure it just for something to do, nagged him to go check on her. Shaking his head he left for the child's quarters, smirking at how he was already wrapped around that devilish finger of hers. He paused once reaching the door, steeling himself, making sure his temper was in check.

Knock, knock, knock**.**

"Considering you'll just stand there otherwise… you may as well come in," he heard from the other side. He took that as an invitation so he entered the room.

She was sat on her bed dressing a china doll in a pink dress with matching shoes, a smile of curiosity on her face at her actions.

"You know, I can see why people give these to their kids; it gives them something to do and time flies." She mused while doing the back of the dress up.

"This is what you've been doing all morning?" He queried, highly doubting the notion that a piece of china could keep her entertained for hours on end. She paused slightly.

"Yes." She muttered curtly.

"Liar!" The accusation flared something in her eyes.

"How would you know? You weren't here precisely were you?" She stood harshly, the action causing her bed sheets to pull, revealing papers stuffed under her mattress. Before the child could stop him The Doctor teased them out and gazed at them. A map of the control room, a key of the controls, what everything did… it was all there.

"You know what? I thought you'd started to change, Lucy. Honestly, I did. But no, you're still as vindictive as the day I first met you." He growled, heading for the door.

"I WANT MY FAMILY!" She bellowed.

"You're family is as good as dead!" he replied in a tone to matched hers, " I wrapped your father in unbreakable chains forged in the heart of a dwarf stone. I tricked your half-brained mother into a collapsing galaxy. As for your brother, well, I wonder how life suspended in time as a scarecrow is holding out for him." The china doll tumbled from her hands and smashed into shards.

"Get out," she muttered dangerously low.

"Gladly." He responded, pointing his screwdriver at the doorframe. It glowed briefly then returned to normal. "Don't bother trying to escape out this room; I'll know." The motion sensor would see to that, alerting him by making the screwdriver glow if she crossed the barrier. It was handy for cases like this, some times he wondered if there was anything the screwdriver couldn't do. Well… wood. Somehow that's just funny.

"You can't keep me locked here forever!" She accused.

"No," he admitted, "but you can certainly go back to your long existence in a mirror, watching the world crumble." She froze at the sentence that was pronounced on her. A single tear fell down her pale cheek, leaving a trail; he'd used the one thing that could get her to stop in her tracks. She wiped at it stubbornly with a sleeve.

Here he was, The Furious Doctor. She's crossed the line and he wasn't playing her game anymore. His patience limited and his temper barely under control, he left.

"I knew it was too good to be true," he muttered sadly, shutting the door.

"Doctor! Wait! I'm sorry!" She screamed pathetically.

"Not sorry enough," he whispered, walking back to his room. He pushed open the door, barely looking around. He found his bed instinctually and slumped on it, burying his face in the pillows, thinking of everything and nothing.

He had stopped Darleks, Cybermen, Slytheen, The Master, Davros and many other stupid creatures like them in their tracks. Now one little girl comes along and BAM, he's turned into a useless lump. Oh the irony.

What tore his heart up so much that he didn't want to put her back where she belonged, in the mirror. It hurt the first time sure; even though some creatures are pure evil he still feels something for them, but to do it again… he didn't think he could take it. But what other choice is there?

Why did she have to go plan and scheme behind his back? Where did she want to go with the TARDIS; it's the only reason she'd have practically an instruction manual on how to use the control room. He laughed; the library. She'd acquired the knowledge from the library.

_'To find the information to control The Doctor's TARDIS: go down the hall and turn left to the library._

_To find the control room to operate the TARDIS: just wait for The Doctor takes you there… again._

_To find out how to be a complete idiot: look straight ahead at a mirror. Don't bother; you're already there,'_ He thought sarcastically.

He put himself in this position by releasing her, now it was time to put it right again.

_Lucy,_ his mind seemed to say to him just before he drifted off to sleep,_ I'm sorry for what I'm about to do._

_Okay soooo too soon? tell me what you think and would anyone like to beta this for me as I have a rough idea of what I want to happen but it isn't fully formed yet and it'll make it that much better if someone can read it before I post it. _


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8- Program 666**_

The Doctor rose to an annoying flashing. His eyes slowly became less fuzzy only to find his screwdriver trying to impersonate a police siren from his jacket pocket, well a police siren without the … sound. Damn it! He wasn't meant to fall asleep and he knew what that little light show meant. Lucy had made a run for it. He should make the alarm wail next time! Make it scream, "Hey, stupid! The kid's defying you yet again. Better go get her."

He took off, his peaceful sleep shattered, towards the control room; where else would she be? He couldn't believe she would stoop this low and deceive him so badly. He cursed her in Gallifreyan as he powered down the corridors, almost smacking into corners. Guess he couldn't add graceful to his list of traits.

He skidded into the room and found her just locking the coordinates in the TARDIS. She then reached to pull the lever, which would set it off on its course. Why did he have to be late for everything?

"Don't you dare!" He warned, edging closer.

"Oh, don't bother! I've had enough of you refusing me at every turn." She remarked dangerously low. Without another word she slammed the lever down and they were both flung to the floor, the TARDIS taking off.

"BRAKES!" The Doctor screeched.

"You didn't put it in the manual!" She shouted, laughing at the elation of finally doing something she wanted. At last she could save her family.

"Where are you taking us?" He muttered while clinging to the railings.

"Surprise." She chuckled, managing to prop herself against the controls.

Right he had to think. Had she found out where he had placed one of her family members? God, what had he said? His face scrunched in concentration, his brow creasing.

How could he have gotten in this position in the first place? He was brought to a halt by a teen of all things. Him and his big hearts. Maybe he loved too much, his fatal flaw. Yet he finally had to admit to himself, he had terrible social skills. Maybe if he'd shown a little more compassion and understanding she wouldn't be hijacking the TARDIS, flying it god knows where.

"Let's talk about this, Lucy," he finally offered.

"Ha! You've had a whole year to 'talk', Doctor," she retaliated.

The TARDIS stopped harshly, shoving them both to the ground again. Once he found his feet The Doctor ran to the control, gazing at the coordinates. Shoot. She'd figured out the location of her father.

"How did you figure it out?" He whispered, defeated.

"Dwarf stone, Doctor. It can only be found here. You let that vital information slip through your lips so easily yet it meant everything to me." Again in a moment of rage he said things he didn't mean to. He had just been so consumed with emotion that he wanted to get back at her somehow. By doing that he'd let her get her stubby fingers on her cruel vindictive father, and he started to doubt that there was anything he could do to stop her. She had all the knowledge of an adult, with all a child's cunning and sweet exterior. No one suspects the innocent child. He mentally cursed himself for his slip up and kicked the controls in a fuming haze.

The door then clicked shut briefly…

…she had escaped.

He ruffled through his hair, unsure how to proceed. If he went after her, she would hate him for all time and there would be no hope in allowing her to be free again. If he allowed her to be reunited with her father any number of things could happen, most of them bad. He growled briefly before tearing himself towards the door. Just as he was about to reach he door he appeared before him.

Literally.

A hologram of himself appeared in front of him, staring gravely. That was never good. Had he finally gone absolutely crazy?

"If you are watching this, emergency program 666 has been activated. I believe you know what this means, Doctor." His faced paled has the hologram flickered before disappearing. Cruelly named after the devil's number, program 666 was when no hope was left. It shut down the TARDIS with himself inside and self destructed within 10 minutes. It was an ultimate last resort and Lucy had activated it. Worse yet, there was no deactivating it. He was going to die at the hands of a little girl from 1913.

"Oh hell no!" he bellowed, "I'm The Doctor; I'm not going to die from someone who plays dress up with china dolls and secretly fantasises about being a princess!"

After a little more storming, kicking and throwing he slumped down, his back to the controls.

"I guess this is where I die," he murmured to himself, "really die. No coming back." The Doctor finally met his match… and some part of him welcomed it. 900 years was far too long and he longed to be released from it some days. He closed his eyes, just waiting for the clock to reach 0.

Please review and tell me what you think :) I appreciate every review, you're all so kind. It keeps me writing.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9- Hope?**_

"Doctor? Doctor?" He opened his eyes, wondering what was happening. The hologram reappeared, staring at him again, this time an amused expression planted on his features.

"If you are watching this, emergency program 667 has been activated. So stop the moping around and get to work." Again it disappeared with a flicker and his was left staring at the wall of the TARDIS. The Doctor chuckled to himself, wondering how he could be so stupid. Emergency program 667, activated 5 minutes after program 666, would only activate if he still possessed his screwdriver. It was a reminder to him to call a certain friend up to the TARDIS who could help him out. He couldn't believe he forgot this. He had made this program for moments such as these, when it wasn't him who had activated the original program 666. It was his last escape route. He pulled his screwdriver and pointed it at the phone he had plucked out with it. Finally he had hope. It began to dial and was answered on the first ring.

"Torchwood." A familiar voice responded. Aww, the voice never sounded so good.

"Jack, my boy, hold on tight; this may be a bumpy ride." He mused and hung up the phone. Then all of a sudden Jack teleported into the TARDIS, standing shocked at the Doctor.

"Doctor, what a pleasant surprise. Mind telling me why my transporter is working again?."

"Shut up." The Doctor snapped. He snatched Jack's wrist, reading the digits on the screen. Then he delved into a box by the control's, pulling out a symmetrical teleporter, and began punching in numbers.

"How did you get one of those?" Jack began.

"Well, let's just say I had a friend who owed me one." He aid evasively, not feeling that time was on his side.

"So how comes I can't use mine but you can go off and have a jolly?" Jack complained, his eyebrows raised in mock anger.

"I don't have time for this." He muttered once he looked at the clock. He had two minutes.

"Press the button." He simply just as he pressed his own one, sending him to the centre of Torchwood. As soon as he appeared Jack soon followed, confusion evident all over his face.

"Stop looking like you've been slapped by a seal and help me." The Doctor snapped.

"Help with what?"

"I need the teleportation coordinates for the planet Xeron, it's important.

"It'll take us a while but we can do it." Jack confirmed, snapping his fingers at Ianto to get it done, who nodded his affirmation.

"How long exactly?" he groaned, exasperated. An almost death experience will do that to someone.

"Half an hour maybe; we have to scan every planet known in the universe to be able to get the right one." A moment of silence passed between them in which the doctor had made his way to Jack's office, followed by the man himself. "What happened anyway?

"I learned to never get on the wrong side of a livid kid." He growled, once again evading Jack's questions.

"Does this kid have curls, jeans, T-shirt and a stupid red balloon?" Jack asked.

"Errr, yeah, how did you know that?" He gasped wondering if Jack had suddenly picked up mind reading as well as the never dieing thing.

"Nah, she's just pouting on my television screen." Jack replied nonchalantly, nodding to the screen.

Sure enough, Lucy was staring as them from inside the TARDIS, which was not burning up or exploding I might add. Well let's break into song and dance.

"Oh phooey, you did a Houdini on me. That's not fair, Doctor. You were meant to die like a good boy. And who's the hotty?" She smiled at Jack, glancing him over. Her eyes seemed a little too fixed on him.

"Well I have a problem with playing dead. And he's wayyy too old for you." The Doctor sassily returned.

"Humph. So as you can see the destruction countdown stopped because you left the TARDIS' clutches. But you haven't left mine Doctor. My father and I would like a word with you… alone. Think you can handle that?" He nodded glumly, she would just hunt him down until he agreed, and the screen went blank.

"That girl is going to be the death of me."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Chapter 10- Reunion**_

"Are you sure, Doctor?" Jack asked for the twentieth time.

"Affirmative, oh god I'm sounding like K-9!" he whined, just finishing typing in the coordinates. He paused at the button that would send him right into the clutches of Lucy and her father. _God life sucks sometimes,_ he mused in his head. Closing his eyes and sighing, he pressed the button.

He soon stood in front of the two figures that just positively represented sugar, spice and everything nice… not. No time to be deluded.

"Keys," Lucy barked at him. Reluctantly he pulled his keys for the TARDIS out and threw them to her. One because the look on her face just pure screamed "don't mess with me" and two, because the gun pointed at him from her fathers side was looking very big and like it would make a very nice hole in The Doctor's newly formed body. The 12 hours were up so when his guts suddenly splattered over the TARDIS' new décor it would be permanent.

"Screwdriver." Well why didn't she just right him a list. It was like he was at a police station getting taken into custody. He just pictured the whole, "we will keep these stored in a plastic bag until you are released," thing going on. He threw it across the room and it skidded to a halt, landing by her feet. She gazed at it thoughtfully.

"Thank you for leaving this lying around by the way; it gave me the means to get into the control room to learn how to use this blasted thing." She gestured distastefully around the TARDIS, eyeing it speculatively. "You have no idea how long it actually takes to learn to fly this thing without crashing into a supernova or something stupid like that."

"Daughter, that's enough. It's time to end this. Step out the way." Mr Clark was standing there, gun still pointed right at The Doctor, only now, Lucy remained in between them. She hesitated.

"I… Wait, that wasn't part of the plan, what are you doing?" She flicked her gazed towards him, staring with astonishment.

"Silence, child, you know nothing of what he's done to me." He warned. She back away slightly, fear glistened in her eyes. Finally, another emotion on her limited list.

She nodded glumly in pure submission. The Doctor maybe deep in one of his hearts felt a pang of sympathy for her.

One the other hand it appears it wasn't an entirely happy reunion. What turned sour here then?

Mr Clarks' attention once again shifted to The Doctor, gun poised and waiting.

"So, Doctor, I trust you've said your farewells?" He queried. There was no reply.

"Fine then, be like that, lets see how the next life treats you, maybe this time you'll stay dead. The doctor grimaced; this was his last regeneration; after this he would never return in a different form, he would just be … dead.

He watch the trigger slowly pull back… getting closer to firing. BANG!

"NO!" Lucy flung herself in front of the bullet, taking the hit, collapsing in front of The Doctor.

Time seemed to stop, her body laid motionless for a few moments, then slowly time laboured on, groggily restarting. She groaned and stirred.

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief; he didn't want more death on his hands. His hand were already stained red, why worsen it?

"Foolish child, your effort was for nothing." BANG!

"No, it wasn't" The voice seemed all too familiar to The Doctor, it was a voice laced with cockiness, now more subdued then the few years ago when he met him but still present.

Well it seems the brother has now entered the picture. The Doctor sighed, annoyed at how his perfect day was becoming such a nightmare. Perfect, just perfect.

**Okay, short, I know, but it needed to stop here. :) Hope you enjoyed and please review and tell me what ya think. Haha I love your reviews guys, they make me chuckle. Someone said they need my "disease" ;) Hope I didn't dissapoint. PS Sorry about the wait, it was my birthday on saturday, 16! Finally. Still recovering from it ;) Plus my new kitten, Treacle, is keeping me busy. Next update shouldn't be as long.**


	11. Chapter 11

_**Chapter 11**_

Mr Clark, fell to the floor, dead. Jeremy stood behind him, a gun raised.

Well, okay, The Doctor didn't expect that.

"Brother!" Lucy exclaimed albeit weakly. She sat slightly and touched her wound; it was already healing.

"Oh, no way." The Doctor muttered, gazing closer at the wound. Sure enough, it was stitching itself back together.

"Impressed?" The girl mused, a slight grin dominating her face.

"How?" He snapped.

"Eternal lily." She admitted, standing, her wound fully closed, "I needed to test my driving skills of this thing so I drove it back to Tulufrey while you were all snug and wrapped up under your covers." She smirked. Her body then twisted to face her brother. She beamed, happiness. Another emotion he could now add to his imaginary list. She charged at him, pulling him into a fierce hug. He dropped his weapon, making it clatter to the floor unceremoniously with a thud. Then gradually he smiled and pulled his arms around her in greeting.

"My, my, sister, I never knew you to be so … affectionate." He mused, ruffling her hair and making her grimaced and protest.

"I never knew you to go against Father," she retorted, stepping out of the embrace and realigning her hair back to the way she liked it.

"He had overstepped, someone had to stop him."

"Yes," she agreed. After a shirt silence her thoughts once again shifted toward The Doctor, "the plan was never to kill you. Merely to get your attention." The Doctor, stood taken aback. Hey, coming from her that was an apology, you shouldn't take that lightly!

"Yes, well, you have my attention." She chuckled, amused.

"You can relax, Doctor, you are quite safe," added Jeremy, roaming him fingers over the TARDIS' controls.

"What of the other one, your 'mother'?" The Doctor questioned.

"She was… unneeded in this, she is better off where she is now." He didn't want to know what that meant but he simply nodded, saving himself a killer of a headache. When he was done with this he was cooking himself up a giant bowl of fish custard and the world's worries can just wait.

"If I'm so safe why did you try to kill me earlier with program 666?" he demanded of Lucy.

"Simple, Doctor, it was all to get you to this point. My plan failed anyway so I can't see how you'd want to know but… to get my father I needed you away, setting up the program 666 did that for me. Next I needed you back here, merely asking would seem pretty pointless so threatening was the other resort, which was successful," she summarised. Well when you put it like that it was almost plausible. But still a question nagged at him.

"What happens now?" He held his breathe, awaiting her reply.

"You're free to go, I guess. All I ask is that you can one day not hate me and I'll go back into the mirror without complaint." She then stood in front of him, head hung, listening for her sentence. He shook his head; he didn't have the heart.

"No, my child, you are free. Maybe if I'd not done that to you anyway you wouldn't have tried so hard to escape." She looked almost ashamed, cringing at the memories and slightly apologetic. Yet still the hint of defiance remained on her features; she would never be what she was, all because of him.

Resolved he adjusted his controls and then they were off, landing on Tulufrey a few minutes later. This will do just fine.

"Well then I'll leave you here. I guess this is where we say goodbye. To you and your brother." Aww, the beam of a smile that came his way was stunning. He folded his arms, grinning at her with pure cockiness. He inclined his head to the door, which she charged to with vigour, her brother close behind.

"Wait!" The children stopped, turning to face him.

"Don't go causing mischief." He smirked, as they left the doors he saw outside and it depicted a fairytale, a happily ever after. Lucy clutched her brothers hand, never wanting to let it go. Her balloon: after all this time forgotten as it drifted up and soared the clouds. She was truly free at last.

THE END

and sooooo it's finished guys. Tell me what ya thought and any new story ideas you want me to throw around in my brain. :) PS a point was made about the fact that the 11th regeneration was the last. I knew this, dont worry! lol The point i tried to make was that The Doctor didn't WANT to regenerate anymore; life got too much and he hated the idea of never dieing, so he would refuse to regenerate like the master did. Hope I cleared that up!


	12. Chapter 12

Okay guys, you wantd it so you got it. A new story is up and it's called Apologies of a Tyrant and it is another Family of Blood Fic of course, this time fousing on Jeremy. It is written in the form of letters written to the Doctor from Jeremy and follows after their ship has exploded, leaving them on the ground.

Well considering it's against the rules of the mighty Fan Fiction to have a chapter devoted to an author's note, I guess i'm gonna have to give you a sneak preview!

_**Apologies of a tyrant.**_

_**Chapter 1- When it all comes crashing down. **_

Doctor,

It's over… you win. The Doctor always wins, I realise that now. All I remember is falling to the floor, my hands grew slick with mud. We were deceived by such a small little trick. You told us to run and so we did, right into a fate worse than death. Fear grew in me as I tore my head up to see what had happened.

But you know the worst part…

… you, towering over me, a look of absolute … disappointment on your face. Not fury or contemplation, just disappointment.

It was the worst thing I could have seen, for then I had nothing to say. If you were angry I could have argued back, it would have been better then silence.

Then you began to speak.

If you want to see more guess what your going to have to do... that's right go onto my profile, look at my stories and read it! Don't forget to review!


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